The Sky Crawlers [2008]

The Sky Crawlers is a feature-length Japanese anime by Mamoru Oshii of Ghost in the Shell fame. It's a beautiful blend of CGI and traditional animation. The story is about a band of teens genetically engineered for virtual immortality. In a world at peace they fight wars in the sky as entertainment so people will value the peace they have. The teens are just cogs in the machine. Neat dogfights and aircraft. Excellent score. Philosophically? The director's going for deep thoughts. Since I'm just after entertainment, well.... It's worth a look just for the dogfights.